2015 Yr 12 support thread

We are having lots of conversations about open days during our evening walking sessions! Dd has booked two for June (on consecutive days so we are having a bit of a road trip) and we will do more in the autumn once we have a better idea of what is achievable. She seems to be working hard this week in her lull between exams so I hope she can keep her anxiety at bay over the next few weeks. I like the motivational quotes idea - I may pinch that Bernadette!

pavlova which exam board is he doing for further maths?

Bernadette what a brilliant idea. Really glad she's feeling better. Onwards and upwards!

We seem to have booked eight open days. I'm wondering if that's too much? It's certainly filling up the calendar in June and July. We'll all probably be wandering past each other unknowingly!

DS said philosophy was fine this afternoon and he enjoyed the Further Maths this morning!

He has a break for a few days now/

Really glad your DD is doing OK. Bernadette

DDs friends all found philosophy tough today apparently so hopefully the grade boundaries will be kind.

Thanks again for all the support, good luck to everyone tomorrow.

Glad to hear you & DD had a better day, Bernadette.

DD thought Philosophy went well today, which was a relief. Geography and English Lit tomorrow so a heavy day ahead. She's been revising all afternoon and has gone to youth group to relax, which is probably a good thing.

Bernadette so pleased your DD is feeling better, I've been thinking about her. SecretSquirrels is right that they do find it difficult to gauge how well they've done sometimes-there's a tendency to dwell on the questions they feel didn't go very well. I've been wondering whether to post about an exam DD did last year at GCSE in case it sounds like a stealth boast but I'm going to because it proves the point. After a Latin exam last year she sent me a text saying that it was awful and she didn't think she should do Latin A Level after all. When she came home she was really down about it. On results day she'd got 100 (full) UMS for that exam. And the Latin grade boundaries are always very high. She was genuinely gobsmacked. So the best thing really is to put each exam behind them, move on to the next, and wait and see what August brings. Easier said than done though I know.

DD had Philosophy today and seems pretty happy about it. Only 2 left now; Latin on Monday and History on Wednesday. It's her birthday tomorrow but at least she hasn't got any exams!

Bernadette Glad she's perked up. They often think they have done worse than they really have.

Well done Bernadette - good thinking

ds3! - still can't seem to tell my children apart

Good to hear that Bernadette

The local one that my girls have been to is mostly just uni reps handing out prospectuses And pens Think they both had one or two interesting conversations, but nothing that couldn't have been found out elsewhere.

The ucas convention was definitely worthwhile for ds3 despite ds1 telling him otherwise. College has not mentioned anything about HE to him whereas ds1 had stayed on at school where they had ucas lessons timetabled in every week from the start of the LIVth so by the time he got to go to the ucas convention was on information overload and spent the whole time in the university café.

ds2 however, although he had already got the prospectuses for the stands he wanted to visit, spent quite some time talking to the reps asking about year abroad placements, bus fares from accommodation, sports facilities and even how long it had taken the reps to get down to this end of the country and should he come to the open day by plane train or car! He was very very excited by the whole thing. 5 universities yes but still 11 courses so he's relying on the open days to whittle it down.

Perfect, 5 is what you need . Was the UCAS convention worthwhile? There is one not too far from us but I wondered whether it was just uni reps handing out prospectuses or whether there was any more to it?

DS2 has been busy booking open days. His college is running coach trips to some and I am filling in the gaps.

Today was the first with no exams and I think it was just what we both needed!

I phoned my boss this morning and took the day off. I got up early and printed out about 20 motivational quotes and stuck them all over the house in really funny places.

She got up and looked around and burst out laughing. She's been much better today thankfully.

As a side note, I'm finding the quotes very soothing. Thank you to everyone for your support. I had no idea it would be this tough.

Hi Secret Yes we got to the ucas convention and we bumped into the L VIth from his former school. He loved the whole thing and got very excited after speaking to the uni reps. Managed to knock a couple of places off his gigantic list so now only 5 left in the running

ds3 not ds2 - slight difference although both asd but at opposite ends of the spectrum

Hello eatyourveg Hope you got to that UCAS convention.

Just wanted to say hello and good luck to all your dc going through exams. ds2 is spared them having enrolled on a btec extended diploma because the stress of exams is too much on top of his asd for him to have any chance at doing himself justice. He's thankfully had full marks for everything he's submitted to date so is on course for the unis he's looking at. He's at Brands Hatch tonight for a formal dinner for prize giving with Garth Crooks!

Hi Tranquility, all welcome! Glad this year seems to be going better than last :)

I have dds doing AS and A2, which actually seems to be better than last year when they were doing GCSEs and AS - there are sooooo many GCSE exams, and they had exams at roughly the same time, whereas this year my girls don't overlap too much so it's not so fraught.

How is she doing today Bernadette?

Bernadette - feel for your DD and you. So hard when thing go wrong when you know how much energy they have put in. Does seem unfair to be 'judged' on one and a bit hours of your life. When my DD feels things have gone bad I always tell her that there is only what is ahead and to wipe away the negative thoughts on what has passed - it obviously doesn't change anything but it has allowed her to mentally move on and focus on what she has control over. I of course continue to worry for her in my head!!!

Bernadette I really feel for you. Last year dd wasn't happy with the first biology exam. We had a pretty wretched night and the next day I gave her a lift to school. Watched her trudge off so deflated and stressed and I just couldn't help it - I cried all the way home. Watching them suffer is awful. If you can possibly persuade her try and take her out for something nice to eat. If nothing else it will give her some energy.

Sorry I'm a bit late to the party but do you mind if I join you? I'll be the one biting my nails in the corner. DD has already done one Geography and one Sociology paper. RS is tomorrow and is her favourite subject, so she's hoping it will go her way. She's also doing English Lit.

Last year she really struggled with anxiety during GCSEs and with a couple of weeks to go we weren't even sure if she'd take any, so I'm feeling relieved that we've got this far. DD2 is taking GCSEs this year as well so things are stressful here.

Sorry to hear about your DD Bernadette. Is there any support available through school?

Oh poor girl Did she have one today? When's the next? Can you take her out, try to get her to have a proper break from thinking about them?

I'm finding it hard to keep DD going tbh, her mistake in the first exam seems to have really knocked her confidence and she wasn't happy with yesterday's geography either. She's very teary and keeps saying she's worked so hard and doesn't understand how it's all going wrong.

My heart is seriously breaking for her.